


Sore Stomach at the Right Moments

by nightingalesdonotsing



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Homesickness, Male Friendship, Partying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28276278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightingalesdonotsing/pseuds/nightingalesdonotsing
Summary: After a delightful round of pre-game, Pitchit receives a last-minute invitation to a Halloween house party and they are very much happy to grace their glorious presence on the partygoers.Pitchit tells Yuuri as they are walking down the block, smartly bundled up in winter coats. “I will remember this night forever, Yuuri.”Yuuri says, “So will I.” and they cling onto each other by the arms while humming their way to the next party they will attend, but certainly not the last yet.Then, Yuuri remembers—these will all be stories someday._______Yuuri & Phichit's adventure at Detroit, written for Holidays!!! on Ice 2020.
Relationships: Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4
Collections: Holidays!!! on Ice (2020)





	Sore Stomach at the Right Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [estelraca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/estelraca/gifts).



> Title derived from The Perks of Being a Wallflower - "There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons." 
> 
> Written for Holidays!!! On Ice 2020.

.

.

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Katsuki Yuuri is no stranger to airplane flights. Long and arduous air journeys are part and parcel of a competitive figure skater’s career, especially if you are a figure skater that competes internationally. Yuuri may be accustomed to the flying experience, but there is no way he can get himself to adapt to the nerve-racking fear of turbulence. Fortunately, nothing a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and a couple of appropriately-timed sleeping pills cannot fix. 

But this time, it is different from his usual long flights. For starters, the baggage allowance is significantly larger. His mother—bless her heart—had roped Mari nee-chan in to help pack his bags. New sets of warm clothing, spare pair of trainers, a wide selection of Yuuri's favourite food that is TSA-approved, and arguably best of all, a small photo album with their family’s portrait and lots of Vicchan’s adorable pictures. 

“Don’t finish them in one go,” his mother says. “They’ll last you for a few months.” 

“Mum, I’m not that much of a glutton,” Yuuri sheepishly says, to which his mother only smiles in response.

Then, there’s the expression his family wears when they are at the Narita International Airport, the kind that says "we will miss you a lot" and it bears a certain sense of finality that Yuuri does not like to admit.

“Take care of yourself and stay warm, Yuuri.” The corner of his father’s eyes crinkles as he smiles. It is a genetic trait that he shares, too. “You can call us anytime.” 

“What about the time difference, dad?” Yuuri chides, not without the plastered grin that he uses to suppress his tears. “Mum needs her beauty sleep.” 

His whole family had come all the way from Hasetsu to send him off. The ceremonious feel of it settles over him like the fine dust of snow at Hasetsu. 

“Technology’s advanced these days,” Mari nee-chan says. “You can always leave a message or something.” 

His mother nods to Mari nee-chan’s comment. “We’ll reply when we are awake,” she says. “Video calls will be nice, too.” 

The disembodied, distorted voices. The pixelated figures on Yuuri’s somewhat busted monitor. The weak Internet connection across the ocean. Video calls are different, he thinks. 

There are also messages that Yuuri’s bad at. They do not show warmth like his mother’s triumphant smile when she presents her homemade feast to the family, nor they show affection like Mari nee-chan’s nonchalant determination on supporting his dreams as a competitive skater. Hell, it does not show care like his father’s gentle assurance every time he comes back from a hellish defeat in competitions. 

They just feel... Different. And Yuuri feels even more so different when he is in Detroit.

Yuuri is born amidst the vaporous heat of Yu-Topia Katsuki, and the kind of cold at Hasetsu is the kind that feels like home. Everything's bigger in Detroit. Taller, too. The sky is also greyer. Specifically, the air is colder, and it’s the kind of cold that does not feel like home every time he speaks marginally passable English to strangers. 

All things that aren’t Hasetsu lodges like shrapnels of thin ice between his ribs every time he takes in deep breaths. They do not seem much at first—he will go to college for his classes, does his skating trainings after classes at a nearby rink, then retires into the tiny room at Celestino’s house—until they do and they all collapse in his lungs and he shudders a shaky gasp when he raises his head from the frigid waters in the shared bathroom’s bathtub, his stomach a yawning chasm that threatens to consume him whole. 

Celestino wears his face in a thinly-veiled concern when Yuuri returns from college one Friday evening. “You’ll have a housemate soon, Yuuri.” It is 6pm and Yuuri plans to hide in his room and watch compilation videos of Victor Nikiforov’s skating routines. “You both will stay together when he arrives.” 

“Together, sir?” He hasn’t changed his habits of formal speech yet, not until Phichit insists.

“Yeah, I’ll rent you two an apartment nearby my place,” he says. “You youngsters ought to learn to be independent. Your parents will be glad.”

Celestino is wrong on two accounts. Firstly, Phichit Chulanont is not just a housemate, but a ball of undistilled sunshine so incendiary he puts everything on fire (not literally, yet) when he arrives jet-lagged and suspiciously high on Red Bull. After a ferociously passionate hug unlike the polite ones Celestino gives, Yuuri is dragged to a shopping spree at the nearby Walmart for the new apartment. Phichit’s amazement at the jumbo-sized servings that America has to offer is humorous, to which he suggests that they can always share the food. Pitchit smiles brightly at the revelation and piles their cart with a large assortment of snacks, intending to try them all on a live stream session. 

It is when Yuuri realizes that the radiant sunrays might have melted some of the ice shrapnels. Not all of them, but it is enough to let him breathe normally again.

Secondly, Celestino’s assumption of putting two young adults in one apartment will instill some form of independence is deadly wrong. Well, unless the kind of independence he means is them exploring America one frat house party at a time. They live together, ride to classes together, do groceries shopping together, have biweekly Movie Nights together to improve their English (Phichit’s English is fluent already, but Yuuri’s insistence of getting rid of his accent while he speaks English collides with Phichit's great interest in movies) together... If Yuuri does not know his housemate enough already, copious amounts of jungle juice while having their asses clad in tight jeans certainly does the job. 

Amongst the many things that Phichit discovers (Yuuri is surprisingly decent at handling spice but Pitchit never tells him about it, Yuuri has a sweet tooth and he is really into that boba tea shop at Chinatown, Yuuri snores in his sleep when he is extremely tired…), the greatest discovery has got to be Yuuri's dancing prowess when he is drunk. His English also sounds more confident and unrestrained. Yuuri being Yuuri, denies anything of the sort until he is presented a recording on Phichit’s phone. 

“Phichit… You recorded me when I was drunk!” Drunk-Yuuri is assertive, and he goes around calling everyone ‘dude’ or ‘fam’. “I cannot believe you’ve done this…”

“Relax, dude. No one else will see it,” Phichit shrugs. Drunk-Yuuri is now dominating the frat house party with his jumping splits. “Unless Victor Nikiforov or your boyfriend wants to see it. I have no choice but to show them, fam.” Drunk-Yuuri decides that grinding his crotch against a sorority girl in a dance-off is a great idea, especially when everyone is gassing him up with cheers and screams of his name. 

“Phichit-kun…” 

Phichit does not know that Drunk-Phichit likes to speak in a slur of fluent French with a mix of Thai phrases for ‘exoticity’, according to himself. Drunk-Pitchit also loves taking his shirt off while walking to late-night diners, despite he is from a tropical country. Drunk-Phichit is a great gambler, but the risks he’d calculated? Let’s just say that he is bad at math. 

Yuuri vows to record Phichit on camera when he is drunk someday. 

However, not-drunk-Phichit’s favourite store is the Dollar Tree because they have the widest selection of greeting cards for his friends and family back in Thailand. Not-drunk-Phichit’s favourite hobby besides being a social media menace is singing pop songs in the showers, and sometimes at the Cadillac Square with the pigeons. Not-drunk-Phichit loves to stock the pantry with an array of condiments and spices from his home. They are not from Yuuri’s home—too spicy, too pungent, and Phichit enjoys seeing him tear up when he tastes his cooking. It’s Phichit’s home, however, and Yuuri figures that anything from Phichit’s home can be his, too. 

Except for Jing Reed, no, not that. 

Also, Yuuri discovers that Phichit (drunk or not) is really into Halloween. 

“Beetlejuice! Edward Scissorhands!” Phichit’s voice is so loud that Yuuri worries that other shoppers at a different aisle will hear him. “And of course, Nightmare Before Christmas! These are all Halloween classics! And they are all from America!” 

“Isn’t Nightmare Before Christmas a Christmas movie?” 

“Oh, Yuuri…” Phichit plucks a string of pumpkin paper garland delicately from the rack and deposits it to the almost full shopping cart. “Why would you say something so controversial yet so true?” 

After an intense session of discussion while Saw is playing, they manage to retain their friendship by deciding that the Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie _and_ a Christmas movie.

Of course, Phichit will not be satisfied by Movie Night alone for Halloween celebration. 

“Yuuri, I brought you your costume!” Yuuri is focusing on his soon-to-be due assignment for his elective class, but the large parcel that Phichit brandishes right in front of his face is distracting. “We are going out for Halloween!” 

“Wait, where are we going?” Yuuri asks. “Actually, what are we even dressing up as?” 

“Hmm, I’m not so sure. I heard Detroit has something called the Devil’s Night?” 

“Is it a bar? Sounds scary.” 

“How about trick-or-treat?” 

“Can adults do trick-or-treating?” 

“Huh…” Phichit fondles his wolf ears while pondering… Wait a second, wolf ears? “I think I have some ideas…” A wolfish grin spreads over his face and he nods to himself. 

As it turns out, Phichit admittedly wonderful idea is to have a spooky Fright Night Movie and Treats time at the Movie Lab , and that is after a pizza dinner at Pie Sci with their Halloween-themed special. 

The not-so-wonderful idea of Phichit’s, however, is to strongly _persuade_ Yuuri into a Halloween costume that he will never choose for himself (“Why did you know my size so well!” “Duh, I do the laundry.”)

“Dude, relax.” He knocks his drink—Bloody Mary with a gelatin eyeball—to Yuuri’s Long Island Iced Tea. “You look damned good in it. Everyone’s staring!”

“Phichit-kun, they are staring because I look absolutely ridiculous!” He wriggles in his chair to pull on his extremely short shorts, but he will have to risk exposing his chest in the deep v-neck of the playsuit’s top. “What is this even supposed to be? A nurse?” 

“No, a _sexy_ nurse.” Phichit beams. “There’s a difference, peuan.” 

“Why do you get to be a wolf while I am a sexy nurse!” There are no boundaries to Phichit’s determination when he wants something done, he even got Yuuri a syringe with mysterious neon pink liquid and strapped it to his thigh with the garterbelt. 

“Shhh, Yuuri, this is not an ordinary wolf, loup.” The ambience in Movie Lab is pleasantly buzzing with patrons’ low conversation and the background noise of Hocus Pocus playing. If it isn’t for the fact that Phichit is downing his third glass of Bloody Mary already, this will have been a calm night ahead. “I’m a werewolf.”

“Werewolf? What werewolf?” 

Phichit beams. “The one and only…” He flexes his abs—contoured for emphasis by Yuuri—which is in full display thanks to his crop top. “Jacob Black.” 

Yuuri hesitantly asks, “... Twilight?”

“What can I say?” Phichit wipes an imaginary tear away with his clawed finger. “I am team Edward, but Jacob’s hot in New Moon.” 

After a delightful round of pre-game, Phichit receives a last-minute invitation to a Halloween house party and they are very much happy to grace their glorious presence on the partygoers. 

Phichit tells Yuuri as they are walking down the block, all bundled up in winter coats. “I will remember this night forever, Yuuri.” 

Yuuri says, “So will I.” and the werewolf and sexy nurse cling onto each other by the arms while humming their way to the next party they will attend, but certainly not the last.

Then, Yuuri knows—these will all be stories someday.

It is Christmas eve night, and for the umpteenth time they watched The King and The Skater, singing off-tune (“It’s the booze, Yuuri. We are obviously not tone-deaf. Like, impossible.”) to the show tunes. No Christmas movies, the disdain is palpable even through Phichit’s alcohol-drenched mumblings. Yuuri agrees, because screw Christmas movies. Screw the picturesque brick houses down the cul de sac. Screw the happy families enjoying their Christmas dinner when they are stranded thousands of miles away from their homes. Screw them all.

Then, the Movie Night turns into a karaoke fest. Then, Drunk-Phichit decides that he likes cuddling up to Drunk-Yuuri while quietly snoring away (here’s the secret, Phichit snores too when he is extremely tired)

Amidst all the mindless scrolling on Netflix, Yuuri stops short at a familiar title, he clicks on it and let the movie runs its course. The first time he was in for the story. The second time it’s an opportunity to ogle at the brunette-haired boy who rocks a corset so well on stage. The third time, well, it's all history.

Phichit is all snuggled up on the couch behind Yuuri. He had him bundled in his favourite blanket—the pink one with chubby hamsters printed all over. Yuuri hears him whispering something in native Thai. He seems content, at ease. 

Charlie had jumped into Sam’s truck, and Patrick’s driving them down the tunnel. 

_“I know these will all be stories someday,”_ Charlie says. _“... But right now, these moments are not stories. I can see it. This one moment when you’re not a sad story. You are alive…”_

Yuuri felt his lips tugged upwards, a wide smile. If Phichit sees it, he will definitely sneak a photo of it. 

“And in this moment, I swear…” Yuuri says, taking in deep breaths, no longer feeling the shrapnel.

The music’s drowning everything in this tiny apartment. Their hair is dancing in the wind and he swears he can feel it in his too. He is Katsuki Yuuri, a professional figure skater representing Japan, an international student pursuing his degree in Detroit. But above all, he is Yuuri. His family’s Yuuri. Phichit’s Yuuri. He and his best friend in this whole wide world, are right here, right now. 

Alive.

“We are infinite.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Jing Reed - Fried crickets!  
> peuan - 'friend' in Thai  
> loup - 'wolf' in French
> 
> _______
> 
> This author thinks that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a decent movie (with its fair share of problems), but they adore the ending and the iconic quote. Hence, here it is. 
> 
> All references about Detroit are done haphazardly within a night, much apologies for the mistakes if any. And yes, there are quite a few meme reference, as well as pop culture references, have fun with all them headcanons.
> 
> Again, much apologies for the delay in submitting to Holidays!!! On Ice m(＿＿)m Life's real hard right now... But guess who manages to finish this in one night, yay! Hence, do be gentle if there is any grammatical errors, will go back and fix it soon if there's any!
> 
> I really love the relationship between Phichit and Yuuri, and I always think they have many fun adventures in Detroit. Hopefully this suits the giftee's request!
> 
> Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ doesgalesing!


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